University of AberdeenMcNeill, G ; Macdiarmid, J; Craig, L; Kings College LondonHolmes, B; University of AberdeenLoe, J; Kings College LondonNelson, M; University of AberdeenMasson, L

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

In May – September 2006 a national survey of the diet of children aged 3-17 years was carried out across Scotland, funded by the Food Standards Agency Scotland (research project S14029). 2,498 children from 80 post-code sectors were sent an invitation to participate and 1,700 were visited at home by trained field workers for measurements of height and weight, questionnaires about physical activity and dental health and collection of a previously mailed 140-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). 1,512 questionnaires were returned and 1,391 were used in the analysis.
For validation for the FFQs, two sub-samples of children and their parents were asked to complete another measure of diet. 311 children were invited to complete a 4-day non-weighed diet diary and a further 429 were invited to complete a single interviewer-administered 24-hour multiple pass recall (24-hour MPR). Complete data were collected for 57% of children in the diary sub-sample and 98% of children in the 24-hour MPR sample.
This project provides secondary analysis of the data obtained from the FFQ, 4-day diet diary and 24-hour MPR. This analysis was designed to take advantage of the three different methods of dietary data collection in the survey to address a number of additional questions:

• Do the patterns of intake of different foods allow overall dietary patterns to be identified?
• What proportion of children meet the dietary targets for sugar and fat intake?
• What are the patterns of meal and snack intake in children?
• How does the nutrient intake of children eating school lunches differ from children who have packed lunches or lunches out of school?

The FFQ provided data on the frequency of consumption on 140 foods and drinks in all respondents and was used to identify broader dietary patterns using principal component analysis (PCA). The diet diaries contained information on the meal and snack pattern and the type of foods consumed at different times of day and on different types of days (e.g. weekdays and weekends or term-time vs. holidays). The 24-hour MPR interview schedule also recorded the source and location at which foods and drinks were consumed and was used to identify school meals and packed lunches.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Results from the FFQs revealed clear dietary patterns in children in all age and sex groups and associations between dietary patterns and socio-economic deprivation. Only 10% of all children met the targets for sugar or saturated fat.

Of the children who kept a diet diary, most ate breakfast and tended to follow a traditional pattern of three meals a day, snacks contributed a high proportion of sugar intake.

Results from the 24-hour MPR suggested that in general, school lunches provided a better nutrient profile than packed lunches or lunches out of school, however, the intake of foods and nutrients was more similar between the groups when viewed over the whole day than at lunchtime alone.

This secondary analysis of the national survey of sugar intake has provided useful information on the meal and snack patterns of children in Scotland both at home and school, and has explored the impact of these meals and snacks on nutrient intakes.